Category: Articles

Maybe both – an analysis of two versions of “Dune” I re-watched the other day “Dune” — not the recent version, but the 1984 version by David Lynch. Then I watched only the first 20 or 30 minutes of the new “Dune” (2021) and could not go on. I had disliked the previous movies that…

The decade when everything changed I am a child of the 1980s and 1990s, so the sixties were already a distant memory when I was growing up. Perhaps a stronger memory than it is now, as it was closer in time, but still only a memory. A few things, such as certain rock bands, or…

A time of discoveries, from Tintin to MAD Magazine The recent death of Al Jaffee at 102 years of age (who retired at 100, after a record-breaking 73-year long career) brought back to my mind the time I read old and new numbers of Mad magazine at the Library of the ICBNA, or Brazilian-North American…

A reflection, a Latin Mass, and a dream A reflection Today is Easter. I am here in Barcelona, or rather in a smaller place in the coast near Barcelona. It is sunny and warm enough, around 20 degrees Celsius. In fact, too sunny. It seems it hasn’t rained in Catalonia for several weeks or perhaps…

A tale of contrasting stereotypes There are at least two Europes: Northern Europe, and Southern Europe. (Maybe three, counting Eastern Europe, which is also a different universe altogether, but not one that I am very familiar with.) So, here, I will talk only about the North and the South. I’m fascinated by the Northern European…

And now for something completely different I don’t like so much to write about politics. It feels a bit dirty, and it gets old very fast. In the long run, it is not so important as it seems at first. In general, I prefer to discuss deeper cultural, historical and social issues, or really, just…

Finland joins the new Cold War The good news is that prime minister Sanna Marin was voted out. The bad news is that it doesn’t matter, because, after decades of neutrality even during the Cold War, Finland has joined NATO.  I don’t even know who’s the new Finnish prime minister, but I’m glad that Sanna…

Trying to understand what is going on It seems that just the other day it was the “Transgender Day of Visibility”. Honestly, I wish there was a “Transgender Day of Invisibility” instead, because it seems it’s the only thing we hear about these days. It has become a weird obsession, and something that I must…

Censorship in the age of media unreality Last week, former U.S. president Donald Trump was indicted and may be arrested for a crime, but the curious thing is that it is a crime that no one seems to be able to understand or explain. The media keeps saying it is related to “hush money” paid…

As I start writing this, I am in a high-speed train crossing Europe at 238 km/h. I love trains. Why? I don’t really know. Going up the clouds is nice too, but in general planes are too cramped and give me a sense of claustrophobia, plus there’s the whole security at the airport thing and…